Remote controller, control method thereof and image processing apparatus having the same

ABSTRACT

A remote controller of an image processing apparatus includes: a touch screen which displays an input menu; a menu processor which processes the touch screen to display respective input menus corresponding to at least two modes among a control mode of the image processing apparatus, a character input mode and a handwriting mode; and a controller which controls the menu processor to display the input menu of the mode corresponding to a selection signal when the selection signal for the mode is received.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/237,420,filed Sep. 25, 2008, which is based upon and claims priority from KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2007-0125499, filed on Dec. 5, 2007 in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Field of Invention

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate toa remote controller for controlling an image processing apparatus, acontrol method thereof, and the image processing apparatus having thesame, and more particularly, to a remote controller for various inputmodes, a control method thereof, and the image processing apparatushaving the same.

Description of the Related Art

An image processing apparatus receives a video signal from abroadcasting station or a video signal from an external device such as adigital versatile disc (DVD) player or the like, and processes the videosignal to be displayed as an image. The image processing apparatus isprovided with a remote controller for selecting various options such aspower on/off, image switching between plural images, image adjustment,volume control, recording reservation, etc.

Further, an image processing apparatus has recently been developed toaccess a network and perform bidirectional communication with thenetwork. Accordingly, a user may input information to the imageprocessing apparatus. Here, the information input by a user may be sovaried and complicated that it cannot be input through the remotecontroller. To input this information, a separate input unit may beprovided in the image processing apparatus.

Such a related art image processing apparatus not only processes a videosignal and displays an image based on the video signal but also mayperform other various functions. Thus, the image processing apparatusmay receive information corresponding to the various functions. However,the related art image processing apparatus needs separate input units inorder to receive the information corresponding to the various functions.In this case, the input units occupy a relatively large installationspace and are expensive.

Also, it is inconvenient for a user to manipulate diverse input unitsaccording to functions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention overcomethe above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above.Also, the present invention is not required to overcome thedisadvantages described above, and an illustrative, non-limitingembodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problemsdescribed above

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide aremote controller capable of supporting input menus corresponding to aplurality of input modes, a control method thereof, and an imageprocessing apparatus having the same.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a remotecontroller with a simple structure for switching and displaying aplurality of input menus, a control method thereof, and an imageprocessing apparatus having the same.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can beachieved by providing a remote controller of an image processingapparatus, comprising: a touch screen which displays an input menu; amenu processor which processes the touch screen to display respectiveinput menus corresponding to at least two modes among a control mode ofthe image processing apparatus, a character input mode and a handwritingmode; and a controller which controls the menu processor to display theinput menu of the mode corresponding to a selection signal when theselection signal for the mode is received.

The menu processor may process a memo area for handwriting to bedisplayed on the touch screen.

The menu processor may process a character input menu for inputting atleast one of alphabet characters, numerals and special characters to bedisplayed.

The menu processor may process a plurality of input menus correspondingto the plural modes to be displayed on the touch screen.

The remote controller may further comprise a mode selector to select atleast one of the plural modes.

The remote controller may further comprise a controller communicationunit which transmits information input through the touch screen to theimage processing apparatus, receives the selection signal transmitted tothe image processing apparatus through a network, and transmits theselection signal to the controller.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can beachieved by providing an image processing apparatus comprising: a remotecontroller which receives and transmits input information; and an imageprocessing main body which comprises an image processor to receive andprocess a video signal, and a main body controller to control the imageprocessor on the basis of the information transmitted from the remotecontroller, the remote controller comprising: a touch screen whichdisplays an input menu; a menu processor which processes the touchscreen to display respective input menus corresponding to at least twomodes among a control mode of the image processing apparatus, acharacter input mode and a handwriting mode; and a controller whichcontrols the menu processor to display the input menu of the modecorresponding to a selection signal when the selection signal for themode is received.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can beachieved by providing a method of controlling a remote controller of animage processing apparatus, the method comprising: selecting at leastone of plural modes comprising at least two modes among a control modeof the image processing apparatus, a character input mode and ahandwriting mode; and displaying an input menu corresponding to theselected mode on a touch screen.

The displaying the input menu may comprise displaying a memo area forhandwriting on the touch screen.

The displaying the input menu may comprise displaying a character inputmenu for inputting at least one of alphabet characters, numerals andspecial characters.

The displaying the input menu may comprise displaying the plural inputmenus corresponding to the plural modes on the touch screen.

The selecting the mode may comprise: receiving a selection signal forthe mode, which is transmitted through the network, from the imageprocessing apparatus; and selecting the mode on the basis of thereceived selection signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing schematic configurations of an imageprocessing apparatus and a remote controller according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an input menu displayed on a touchscreen of the remote controller of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of displaying an input menu when a mode isselected in the remote controller of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of displaying input menus when plural input modesare selected in a remote controller according to a second exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of displaying an input menu when a remotecontroller according to a third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention receives a mode selection signal from an image processing mainbody.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below so as to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing schematic configurations of an imageprocessing apparatus and a remote controller according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an image processing apparatus 1 according to thefirst exemplary embodiment includes an image processing main body 100which receives and processes a video signal to be displayable, and aremote controller 200 which controls operations of the image processingmain body 100.

The image processing main body 100 includes a display 110 to display animage thereon; a video processor 120 to process the video signal todisplay the image; a signal receiver 130 to receive the video signalfrom a predetermined image source; a main body communication unit 140through which a signal is transmitted to and received from the remotecontroller 200; and a main body controller 150 to control operations ofthe display 110, the video processor 120, the signal receiver 130, andthe main body communicator 140. Here, a television, a set-top box, etc.may be employed as the image processing apparatus 1. If the set-top boxis used as the image processing apparatus 1, the image processing mainbody 110 may exclude the display 110.

The remote controller 200 has a plurality of input modes, and the inputmodes are switchable from one another. According to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the plurality of input modesincludes a control mode for controlling operation of the imageprocessing main body 100, a character input mode for inputtingcharacters, and a handwriting mode for allowing a user to write.However, the plurality of input modes are not limited to the controlmode, the character input mode and the handwriting mode, but may includeonly two of them or other input modes for additional functions.

The remote controller 200 includes a touch screen 210 to display inputmenus; a menu processor 220 to process the input menus corresponding tovarious input modes to be displayed on the touch screen 210; acontroller communication unit 230 through which a signal aboutinformation input through the touch screen 210, or the like istransmitted to and received from the main body communication unit 140; amode selector 240 to allow a user to select each input mode; and acontroller 250 to control operations of the foregoing elements andcontrol the menu processor 220 to switch the input menu displayed on thetouch screen 210 according to which input mode is selected.

The above-described elements will be described in more detail. First,the elements of the image processing main body 100 are as follows.

The display 110 displays an image based on the video signal processed bythe video processor 120. The display 110 may be accomplished by a liquidcrystal display (LCD) or a plasma display panel (PDP), but is notlimited thereto.

The signal receiver 130 receives a video signal from an external imagesource (not shown) under control of the main body controller 150. Theexternal image source may include a digital versatile disc (DVD)apparatus, a video cassette recorder (VCR), a personal computer (PC),etc. The video signal received in the signal receiver 130 may haveformats of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), a high definitionmultimedia interface (HDMI), a digital video interface (DVI), etc.Alternatively, the signal receiver 130 may receive a video signal fromanalog television broadcasting, digital television broadcasting,satellite broadcasting, cable broadcasting, etc., from a broadcastingstation (not shown), or receive a video signal from a video-on-demand(VOD) server.

The video processor 120 processes the video signal received by thesignal receiver 130 to be displayed as an image on the display 110. Thevideo processor 120 may perform decoding corresponding to the format ofthe video signal, video-processing for improving picture quality,scaling for adjusting the size of an image, image adjustment requestedby a user, etc.

The main body communication unit 140 receives a signal from thecontroller communication unit 230 of the remote controller 200, andtransmits the received signal to the main body controller 150. Here,information contained in the signal, an interface for the signal, etc.,may be different according to the input modes of the remote controller200. Then, the main body communication unit 140 receives the signalcorresponding to each input mode and transmits it to the main bodycontroller 150.

The main body controller 150 controls the operation of the imageprocessing main body 100 on the basis of a control signal received fromthe remote controller 200 in the control mode. Further, when the mainbody communication unit 140 receives a signal containing characterinformation or handwriting image information from the remote controller200 in the character input mode or the handwriting mode, the main bodycontroller 150 processes or transmits the signal as necessary. Forexample, when the information input to the remote controller 200 has tobe transmitted to a predetermined server (not shown) through a network,the main body controller 150 processes the signal received in the mainbody communication unit 140 and transmits it through a signaltransmitter (not shown) to the network.

Next, the elements of the remote controller 200 are as follows.

The touch screen 210 is provided outside the remote controller 200 andinterfaces a user with the remote controller 200. The touch screen 210displays the input menu corresponding to each input mode, and a usertouches the displayed input menu with a finger, a stylus pen or the likeso as to input predetermined information. To this end, the touch screen210 may have diverse configurations. For example, the touch screen 210has a surface formed with an infrared lattice, and determines whichposition of the lattice is touched when a user touches the lattice withthe finger or a like object. Then, the touch screen 210 determines whatoption corresponds to the touched positions of the lattice, andimplements operation corresponding to the option.

The menu processor 220 processes the input menu corresponding to aselected input mode to be displayed on the touch screen 210 whenswitching for at least one of the plural input modes is selected. Forexample, the menu processor 220 processes the input menus correspondingto the control mode, the character input mode and the handwriting mode,respectively.

FIG. 2 illustrates that the input menus corresponding to the respectiveinput modes are displayed on the touch screen 210 of the remotecontroller 200. FIG. 2 just shows an exemplary embodiment and does notlimit the scope of the invention. In other words, the menu processor 220may be designed to display the input menus in various formats.

The remote controller 200, which displays a control menu keycorresponding to the control mode, is shown in an upper left part ofFIG. 2. The control menu key includes numeral keys for selecting abroadcasting channel; a cursor key for switching image set-up, volume,channels, etc.; a selection key; etc.

The remote controller 200, which displays a character input keycorresponding to the character input mode, is shown in a lower part ofFIG. 2. The character input key is borrowed from a keyboard layout for ageneral computer system, but not limited thereto. Thus, the characterinput key allows a user to input Hangeul (Korean alphabet) characters,other alphabet characters (e.g., such as English), numerals, specialcharacters, etc. For example, a Hangeul input key may have a “Dubeolsik”or “Sebeolsik” keyboard layout, and another alphabet input key may havea “QWERTY,” “DVORAK” or “AZERTY” keyboard layout.

The remote controller 200, which displays a memo area 211 correspondingto the handwriting mode, is shown in the upper right part of FIG. 2. Thememo area 211 is provided in at least one part of the touch screen 210,and thus a user can input information by touching the memo area 211 withhis/her finger, a stylus pen or the like. In this case, an auxiliary keymay be additionally provided for performing an auxiliary function suchas resetting the memo area 211 or the like.

The controller communication unit 230 transmits information inputthrough the touch screen 210 to the main body communication unit 140.When the information is input through the touch screen 210, thecontroller 250 sends the information to the controller communicationunit 230 and the controller communication unit 230 processes theinformation and wirelessly transmits it to the main body communicationunit 140. The controller communication unit 230 is designed to processand transmit information input corresponding to the input modes,respectively.

The mode selector 240 is provided outside the remote controller 200 andis manipulated by a user. The mode selector 240 allows a user to selectone among the plural input modes, and informs the controller 250 of theselected input mode, thereby making the controller 250 perform anoperation corresponding to the selected input mode. The mode selector240 may be achieved in the form of a physical button or a key alwaysdisplayed on one side of the touch screen 210 regardless of switchingthe input menus.

The controller 250 controls the operations of the elements of the remotecontroller 200, and controls the menu processor 220 on the basis of amode selection signal when receiving the mode selection signal throughthe mode selector 240. When a user selects the input mode through themode selector 240, the mode selection signal corresponding to theselected input mode is output from the mode selector 240 to thecontroller 250. Then, the controller 250 switches the remote controller200 to have the input mode corresponding to the mode selection signal,and controls the menu processor 220 to display the input menucorresponding to the switched input mode on the touch screen 210.

Further, the controller 250 may include a memory (not shown) to storeinformation input when the remote controller 200 is in the characterinput mode or the handwriting mode. Thus, the controller 250 may controlthe touch screen 210 to display the information stored in the memory(not shown).

In the image processing apparatus 1 with this configuration according tothe first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the remotecontroller 200 displays the input menu corresponding to the selectedinput mode as follows: which will be described with reference to FIGS. 1through 3.

At operation S100, a user manipulates the mode selector 240 and selectsone among the control mode, the character input mode and the handwritingmode. Correspondingly, the mode selector 240 outputs the mode selectionsignal to the controller 250, and the controller 250 determines theselected input mode on the basis of the mode selection signal.

If the controller 250 determines the input mode of the image processingmain body 100 is selected as the control mode at operation S110, thecontroller 250 controls the menu processor 220 to display the controlmenu key corresponding to the control mode on the touch screen 210 atoperation S120.

Further, if the controller 250 determines the input mode is selected asthe character input mode at operation S130, the controller 250 controlsthe menu processor 220 to display the character input key on the touchscreen 210 at operation S140.

Also, if the controller 250 determines the input mode is selected as thehandwriting mode at operation S150, the controller 250 controls the menuprocessor 220 to display the memo area 211 for handwriting on the touchscreen 210 at operation S160.

When the input menu corresponding to each input mode is displayed on thetouch screen 210, a user inputs predetermined information by touchingthe displayed input menu, and the controller 250 processes and storesthe input information or transmits a signal corresponding to the inputinformation to the image processing main body 100 through the controllercommunication unit 230. Then, the main body controller 150 controls theimage processing main body 100 on the basis of the received signalcorresponding to the input information or transmits the information tothe server (not shown) through the network.

In the first exemplary embodiment, one input mode is selected among theplural input modes, and the input menu corresponding to the selectedinput mode is displayed on the touch screen 210, but not limitedthereto. Alternatively, plural input modes may be selected among theplural input modes, and respective input menus corresponding to theselected input modes may be displayed at once on the touch screen 210.For example, the respective input menus corresponding to two input modesmay be displayed at once, which will be described below as a secondexemplary embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. 1and 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of displaying input menus in the imageprocessing apparatus 1 when the plural input modes are selected.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a user selects two among the control mode,the character input mode and the handwriting mode through the modeselector 240 at operation S200. For example, if a user selects thecontrol mode and the handwriting mode, the controller 250 divides adisplay area of the touch screen 210 into two areas for displaying theinput menus corresponding to the selected input modes at operation S210.

The controller 250 displays the control menu key on one display area,and the memo area on the other display area at operation S220. Thus, onetouch screen 210 displays both input menus corresponding to two inputmodes at once, so that a user can input information by manipulating eachinput menu.

Meanwhile, in the first and second exemplary embodiments, the modeselection signal is transmitted to the controller 250 according to how auser manipulates the mode selector 240, but not limited thereto.Alternatively, the mode selection signal may be transmitted through thenetwork connecting with the image processing main body 100, which willbe described below as a third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchart ofdisplaying an input menu when the remote controller 200 receives themode selection signal from the image processing main body 100.

According to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention,the image processing main body 100 receives the mode selection signalfrom the network and transmits it to the remote controller 200. To thisend, the signal receiver 130 connects with the network and receives theselection signal. Here, the selection signal may be initially generatedby a server (not shown) connected with the network, a client terminal(not shown) connected with the server (not shown), etc.

For example, let's suppose that image contents processed by the imageprocessing main body 100 are related to goods in a shopping mall, and auser transmits his/her autographic signature to the shopping mall, whichis written for payment when he/she buys the goods in this shopping mall.

The signal receiver 130 connects with the server (not shown) through thenetwork, and the server (not shown) connects with the client terminal(not shown) of the shopping mall through the network.

If a user manipulates the remote controller 200 so as to transmitinformation about buying the goods to the shopping mall, the clientterminal (not shown) of the shopping mall transmits the mode selectionsignal to the network so that the remote controller 200 can be switchedto the handwriting mode, thereby requesting a user's autographicsignature.

At operation S300, the mode selection signal is transmitted to the imageprocessing main body 100 through the network. In more detail, the modeselection signal is received by the signal receiver 130. At operationS310, the main body controller 150 transmits the mode selection signalto the remote controller 200 through the main body communication unit140.

When the controller communication unit 230 receives the mode selectionsignal, the controller 250 selects the handwriting mode corresponding tothe received mode selection signal at operation S320. Then, the inputmenu corresponding to the selected input mode, i.e., the memo area 211is displayed on the touch screen 210 at operation S330.

Thus, a user autographically signs on the displayed memo area 211, andallows it to transmit to the image processing main body 100. Then, theimage processing main body 100 transmits a user's autographic signatureto the shopping mall through the network.

Accordingly, there are diverse methods of selecting the input modes ofthe remote controller 200.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,respective input menus corresponding to a control mode, a characterinput mode and a handwriting mode of an image processing apparatus areintegrated into a single remote controller in lieu of the plurality ofrelated art input units, thereby occupying a relatively smallinstallation space and removing the inconvenience of changing the inputunits according to the modes.

Further, various functions are integrated into a single remotecontroller, thereby reducing costs.

Also, a touch screen is employed, thereby allowing a user to easilyselect and execute various input menus and making a user's input easy.

Moreover, it is possible to transmit diverse input information to animage processing apparatus capable of supporting bidirectionalcommunication, thereby enhancing utility of the image processingapparatus.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beenshown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a touch screen; acommunicator; and a processor configured to control the touch screen todisplay a user interface (UI), wherein in response to receiving a firstsignal via the communicator while a first UI is displayed, the processoris configured to control the touch screen to display a second UI, andwherein the processor is configured to transmit a second signalcorresponding to a user input through the second UI to a TV via thecommunicator so that the TV processes the second signal and transmitsthe processed second signal to a server through a network.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first UI corresponds to afirst input mode for controlling the TV and the second UI corresponds toa second input mode for inputting characters.
 3. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the second signal corresponding to the user inputcomprises character information.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to divide the touch screen into aplurality of areas and to simultaneously display the first UI and thesecond UI on the plurality of areas, respectively.
 5. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein in response to receiving the first signalfor selecting at least two UIs of the plurality of the UIs, theprocessor is configured to display the at least two selected UIs inaccordance with the first signal.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the first signal is transmitted from the TV.
 7. A systemcomprising: a TV; and an input apparatus configured to remotely controlthe TV by a user, the input apparatus comprising: a touch screen; acommunicator; and a processor configured to control the touch screen todisplay a UI, wherein in response to receiving a first signal via thecommunicator while a first UI is displayed, the processor is configuredto control the touch screen to display a second UI, and wherein theprocessor is configured to transmit a second signal corresponding to auser input through the second UI to the TV via the communicator so thatthe TV processes the second signal and transmits the processed secondsignal to a server through a network.
 8. The system according to claim7, wherein the first UI corresponds to a first input mode forcontrolling the TV and the second UI corresponds to a second input modefor inputting characters.
 9. The system according to claim 7, whereinthe second signal corresponding to the user input comprises characterinformation.
 10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the processoris configured to divide the touch screen into a plurality of areas andto simultaneously display the first UI and the second UI on theplurality of areas, respectively.
 11. The system according to claim 7,wherein in response to receiving the first signal for selecting at leasttwo UIs of the plurality of the UIs, the processor is configured todisplay the at least two selected UIs in accordance with the firstsignal.
 12. The system according to claim 7, wherein the first signal istransmitted from the TV.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumrecording instructions for execution by a processor of an apparatus tocause the apparatus to perform operations comprising: displaying a firstUI on a touch screen of the apparatus; receiving a first signal from aTV while the first UI is displayed; displaying a second UI on the touchscreen in response to the apparatus receiving the first signal; andtransmitting a second signal corresponding to a user input through thesecond UI to the TV so that the TV processes the second signal andtransmits the processed second signal to a server through a network. 14.The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 13,wherein the first UI corresponds to a first input mode for controllingthe TV and the second UI corresponds to a second input mode forinputting characters.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 13, wherein the second signal corresponding to theuser input comprises character information.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the displayingthe second UI comprises dividing the touch screen into a plurality ofareas; and simultaneously displaying the first UI and the second UI onthe plurality of areas, respectively.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the displayingthe second UI further comprises in response to receiving the firstsignal for selecting at least two UIs, displaying the at least twoselected UIs in accordance with the first signal.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the first signalis transmitted from the TV.